Eths (Modern Metal)

Biography

In their native France ETHS are superstars. The quintet from Marseilles has graced about every music magazine cover in their home country. Their success story began with the release of two EPs, which spread like wildfire and gained the young band cult status. "Autopsie" came out in the year 2000 and the raw emotionality of singer Candice Clot on top of a raging mixture of Metal and Core captured the immediate interest of their rapidly growing following and critics alike. Its explosive successor "Samantha" (2002) added fuel to the fire. Even without a full-length out, ETHS had to start performing on top of the billings by popular demand. Now Season of Mist is proud to re-issue these two milestones of French Metal with the addition of four previously unreleased bonus tracks.

This follows the highly successful re-release of ETHS' first full-length "Soma" (2004) in May 2012, which also included four then-unpublished exclusive bonus tracks from the demo sessions to satisfy the continued high demand for this album. When “Soma” originally hit the stores it became an overnight success and catapulted the quintet from Marseilles not only on the covers of nearly every music magazine in France, but also outsold established metal headliners like CHILDREN OF BODOM or CRADLE OF FILTH there. The pure undiluted energy and anger bursting out from “Soma” once more driven by the stunning vocals of singer Candice made this debut an instant classic.

With follow-up "Tératologie" (2008), ETHS demonstrated their experience and maturity grown out of playing hundreds of show. This album saw the band begin to tour more abroad and gain fans all over Europe. Hailing from an ancient Mediterranean harbour town, it should be no surprise that ETHS adapted a musical style resembling a vital melting pot of Core, post-Korn Metal, orchestral and electronic elements and more that seemingly effortlessly merge into organic, hard and still very catchy songs. At the front of the band, live and on record stood singer Candice, easily mistaken to be responsible only for her honey-sweet angelic vocals. Wrong, as the dark haired beauty unleashes brutal growls, fierce rasps and venomous hissing no less impressively.

Having thoroughly conquered their native homelands, ETHS were ready for the next step. With their catchy third effort "III", the Marseillais aimed beyond their borders. To underline their challenge abroad, for the first time in their career ETHS released an international edition of "III" with four English versions of the original French songs. "III" also marked the return of fan-favourite drummer Guillaume aka Yom and the induction of new bass player Damien. The band were ready to embark on an extended musical journey starting in France during spring and later continuing in Europe, with an option to reach out overseas well.

Yet even the best laid plans can go wrong. On September 18th, 2012 Candice Clot announced her unexpected departure from ETHS due to important private family commitments. Her personal reasons were fully accepted by band and label although with a sad heart. Yet the French were not ready to give up. On the rest of the tour, vocal duties were shared by Virginie Goncalves of KELLS fame for clean singing and the spectacular growls of Nelly Wood.

Simultaneously, the band was searching for a suitable singer to permanently replace Candice. This was not an easy task, but ETHS succeeded in a spectacular manner. On February 15th, 2013 the Marseilles gang announced Rachel Aspe as their new vocalist. Rachel had already made her international debut on prime time television as part of "La France A Un Incroyable Talent" (the French equivalent/franchise of "America's Got Talent"). Her death metal vocal styling stunned the judges and crowd before going viral and being seen by millions of people. Video of her audition has been widely covered by such international sites such as ABC News, MSN, The Guardian, Huffington Post, Salon, and dozens more.

Rachel commented on joining ETHS, saying: "I'm really proud to be a part of ETHS. I've been a fan of the band for many years, and it's a great honour for me to sing songs I have been listening to for such a long time."

Regarding their new band member, ETHS stated: "We're pleased to welcome Rachel to the band. She's great and has an awesome voice! Thanks a lot to Virginie and Nelly for filling in on stage during the last few months. Now a new chapter is beginning for ETHS. We're energized and looking forward to our upcoming shows with Rachel. See you on the road!"

Currently ETHS are working on their next album, expected some time in 2014. Expect a first taste of the new line-up soon!

ETHS is one of those rare bands that have only put out a few albums, but everyone who is a fan of the more underground female fronted Metalcore groups know exactly who they are. Falling in line with groups such as OTEP and KITTIE, the band has blended a raw, aggressive stance of chugging guitars with raw, screaming vocals combined with softer melodic sections. Their last release - ‘Teratologie’ - really put this French quintet to most fans’ attention, though it was much rawer than what they have done here with ‘III’. For those who felt that ETHS was just a bit too much on the aggressive side, then this album will set things right. Here, the band loses a bit of the harsh bellow snarls and hisses and makes more use of the clean vocals and more melodic guitar passages for a more accessible release that could pander to a wide variety of Metal fans. The music is still pretty Metalcore based, but there are more electronic elements and symphonic elements involved such as on the track ‘Hercolobus’, which is also one of the heavier tracks with its thunderous chug and snarling vocals from Candice who still maintains that soft and creepy innocent crooning that was such a hit on the previous release. However, to hear her really sing in a more pop Metal fashion such as on ‘Gravis Venter’ is a step in the right direction as it has that perfect balance of sweet melodies that is much more appealing than just hearing her growl. While the underground fans might not like it, more mainstream Metal fans will certainly gravitate towards this.

One thing ETHS still seems to struggle with a bit is their epic track formula, although with ‘Anatemnein’ they’re getting better. In the past, usually the song would go on for about five minutes and then leave then next seven with silence. While there is some silence here, ETHS include a lot more extras so listeners don’t feel like it is wasted, such as electronic moments and a dark, symphonic closing. Despite the fact that many will feel like they heard this exactly on the previous interlude ‘Praedator’, it is certainly a welcome thing to hear aside from silence. Also, to appeal to the more mainstream crowd, despite all the songs being in French, Candice sings a few in English so she can actually be understood. In the past her French hissing was a whole new level of unique mystery to unravel that made the music all the more fierce, but for those who were really looking into hearing what she had to sing/ growl about were often a bit lost. And plus that, she sings on almost every song now also helps to clear her voice, even when it is layered to great effect between singing and growling. What fans are left with is still a dark, sinister version of ETHS, but they don’t sound so “out of the circle” when it comes to comparing them to the more popular artists of the Modern Metal day. What is even more fortunate is that despite ETHS becoming a bit more mainstream, they still maintain a unique edge that puts them ahead of so many different artists who are still doing the same thing over and over while ‘III’ is proof that ETHS will evolve again and again.

Ooh matron bare breasts on an album cover, that’s not going to go down well on the record shop shelves! Mind you who the hell buys their albums in the shops nowadays and it is no doubt an artistic statement and hardly exploitative like some of these nasty death metal bands go out to shock with. Eye catching cover aside, just who are Eths, as if you live outside France you may not have encountered them? Luckily I have, as I quite enjoyed their last album Tératologie which came out in 2007 and even managed to catch them live supporting Christian Death and interview the Marseille based band around the time of its release. There is absolutely nothing about Eths that is easy to pigeonhole. In fact when they started out in 1996 named ‘What The Fuck,’ that particular name although not going to win them any subtlety awards was pretty apt. At the front we have the excellent vocals of singer Candice who’s lush and gorgeous vocals can be quite sublime. She is however not a lady who needs backing up by any beast as far as her voice is concerned as she is quite capable of unleashing cadaverous rasps, growls and hisses too and often comes across as quite possessed. Musically the last album had a real nu-metal feel to it but that should not put you off as it was bolstered by a death laden tumult too and this and the deathcore approach has certainly been expanded here on album III, a title that speaks for itself. The first bar of opener ‘Voragine’ sounds like it has been lifted from A Clockwork Orange theme, which is slightly disconcerting before the song properly and very solidly boots in with muscular drumming and humungous roars. It quickly changes as the vocals go all sweet and honey flavoured, really making you wonder if this can be the same singer. Melody is rich and the song twists and turns drawing you right into its grasp. Although vocals are in French on some songs Eths will be releasing an international version of the album with four English versions of the French songs, which is what I have here. Still like label mates Kells the fact things are in French here does not spoil any enjoyment for me, hell some of those venomous roars are way beyond translation anyway. There is plenty of groove about the numbers as well, the likes of countrymen Gojira would not be a bad reference point as songs like ‘Harmaguedon’ limber up and bounce all over the place with mosh heavy sensibilities. Adonai, is a real standout amongst nine other really good tracks, it was the one that was chosen for a video clip which is honestly as out there as the music itself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7OKJgPuY6M and had me wondering if I was watching a post apocalypse Exorcist or something. The visual elements are backed by both brutality and a to die for chorus. The solid pummeling of Inanis Venter with ranting stomp laden delivery wouldn’t be out of place on a Slipknot album and would be a good song to drive the disillusioned on the streets as they spill out the estates and riot in the streets of Marseille. You find yourself waiting for a pure ballad but you never get one. For every moment that things do go syrupy the brutality is again quickly enforced. Another album highlight is ‘Sidus’ with heavy orchestral embellishments driving the pace along. The best way to listen to this album is turn it up, the production is excellent and it rages away from beginning to end, each and every song giving you shades of light and dark and delivering a nice firm ass kicking during its running time. As the apocalyptic strains of ‘Anatemnein’ deliver a final judgment it is evident that III is a really good album and one that the band deserve being heard further afield with.